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It all started in Ladywell

A family kitchen, a former pub, and a stubborn belief that bread should be made where it is sold.

Maison fondée en 2013

A little bit of Paris, twice over

Le Délice was started in 2013 by Karine Bengueloul, in a former pub beside Ladywell Road — a stone’s throw from the site of the old Lady Well, which people drew water from until the 1850s.

In our family, the kitchen is the heart of the house. There is always fresh sourdough on the side, a big pot of tea, and a cake on the table. We have tried to recreate that feeling wherever we can: comfortable, unpretentious, and everybody welcome.

In 2021 we opened the second Délice, here on Hither Green Lane, in a building that was a cinema back in the 1960s. Some of our regulars remember watching their first film in this room. Now they come for the coffee.

Ink and watercolour illustration of the Le Délice shopfront, with its navy awnings, planters and pavement chairs — Illustration by Heavens to Betsy Illustrations

Best Café — Mayor of Lewisham Business Awards, 2022 and 2025

How we got here

Thirteen years, two shops

1960s
A cinema on Hither Green Lane

The building at number 232 shows films to the neighbourhood. Ice cream in the interval.
2013
Le Délice opens in Ladywell

Karine takes on a former pub on Ladywell Road and turns it into a French boulangerie and pâtisserie.
2021
Hither Green

The old cinema becomes the second Délice — a bigger room, a bigger counter, and a bread shelf by the window.
2022
Best Café in Lewisham

The Mayor of Lewisham Business Awards names Le Délice Best Café.
2025
And again

Best Café for the second time. Voted for by the people who actually eat here, which is the only vote that counts.

Paris-Brest rings being filled with praline cream in the kitchen

Sourdough loaves cooling on the wooden bread shelf

The room

Sit as long as you like

Exposed brick, a deep blue banquette, patterned tiles underfoot and tall windows onto the lane. Room for a pram, a laptop or a long conversation.

A pâtissier’s hands finishing desserts by hand at the kitchen bench

Fresh and local

Made here, from things we chose ourselves

We believe in healthy, wholesome home cooking and baking with fresh produce — the same way we have done it since 2013. From the bread and butter to the smoked salmon, everything is chosen carefully and sourced locally wherever it can be.

The team has grown along the way. We have taken on more chef pâtissiers so there are fresh cakes in the counter every single day, and we have worked hard to build a group of people who are genuinely pleased to see you. Each of them cares about putting a smile on your face with good service and honest food.

See what we serve

A morning here

Six o’clock to seven o’clock

The ovens are on before the street wakes up. By the time the first customer pushes the door, the bread is cooling, the croissants are out, and somebody is already piping cream into a Paris-Brest.

See the gallery

What we hold to

Four things we will not change

Bake it hereNothing arrives frozen
Open earlySix in the morning, every day
Know your nameAnd your usual order
No hurryThe table is yours

Our creations

What comes out of the kitchen

Beautiful home-made cakes, fresh filled baguettes and paninis, crêpes sweet and savoury, breakfast all day — and of course, croissants and pastries every morning.